On Tuesday afternoon, Ann Valdez and Kflu Kflu were
ready to tell the world why. Representatives from New York City
non-profit advocacy group Community Voices Heard, the
middle-aged pair stood in front of Paulson’s $14 million-plus beige stone mansion at 9 East
86th Street in matching blue tee-shirts, press materials in
hand. Protesters were coming to visit the townhouse as part of
an Upper East Side "Millionaire's March and Billionaires Tour"
to the homes of Paulson and such ultra wealthy financiers as
David Koch and Rupert Murdoch to demand "accountability for
Wall Street crimes" and higher taxes for the rich.

Media helicopters hovered above. Two bulky men in
dark suits stood by to "monitor the situation" according to one
who declined to say who he was working for. And Valdez, an
out-of-work mother from Coney Island, had a page full of
talking points ready on the hedge fund manager who made $4.9
billion last year. "He has 28,000 square feet! And we, the 99%
of NYS, are giving him a tax cut!" read one. "He even helped
Goldman Sachs form bonds HE KNEW were going to fail!" exclaimed
another.

"Paulson is worth $15.5 billion on the backs of the
poor," said Valdez as the crowd approached from Park Avenue.
"These millionaires and billionaires need to pay their fair
share of taxes."

The protestors eventually came. They took a brief
detour to visit JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie
Dimon’s home, but made it to Paulson's to chant
and leave a big mock check for $5 billion. It was made out to
"the top one percent" from the "99 percent" for a "Five billion
dollar state tax cut," a reference to a soon-to-expire New York
State tax surcharge on those making $200,000 or more.

Neighbors had mixed feelings. Linda Heller, who
lives next door to Paulson at 7 East 86th Street, said she
supported the protest. Paulson having such an opulent
residence, she said, was like "building the czar’s
winter palace while the country goes to hell."

Another, who asked not to be identified, said the
protestors had no right to attack Paulson and hedge fund
managers who often earn returns for institutional investors. "I
have a pension—I want it to do well," he said. "The
protestors don’t know what they want."

Paulson, almost certainly not at home, responded to
the protestors with a statement: "Instead of vilifying our most
successful businesses, we should be supporting them and
encouraging them to remain in New York City and continue to
grow."

The Queens-born hedge fund manager also noted that
"The top 1% of New Yorkers pay over 40% of all income taxes,
providing huge benefits to everyone in our city and state;"
that "Paulson & Co. and its employees have paid hundreds of
millions of dollars in New York City and New York State taxes
in recent years and have created over 100 high paying jobs in
New York City since its formation;" and "New York currently has
the highest income taxes of any state in the country and
thousands of businesses have fled New York to states with no
income taxes such as Florida, Texas and Nevada, or moved
offshore."

Protesters gather at
59th Street and Fifth Avenue; one holds the check that
would be delivered to John Paulson's home

Occupy Wall Street wasn’t paying attention. The
march began around noon at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, far
uptown from the movement’s base in the financial
district’s Zuccotti Park. Protestors held signs
like "Tax the millionaires" and "Tax Wall Street transactions
and heal America." They chanted "We are the 99%" and "We got
sold out, the banks got bailed out" as they began their march
uptown, which was tightly but peacefully controlled by the New
York City Police Department.

Between several hundred and one thousand marched,
but the stunt attracted hoards of journalists and
photographers. In certain areas, it seemed that there was one
member of the media for every two or three protestors.

Organizers joining Occupy Wall Street included
liberal advocacy groups UnitedNY, the Strong Economy for All
Coalition, the Working Families Party and New York Communities
for Change. Demands were two-fold. For Albany, they asked to
"stop the $5 billion tax break for New York’s
richest families and reinvest the money to create jobs, save
schools and services, fight poverty and rebuild a stronger New
York," according to a flyer. For Washington, they called for
the passage of President Obama’s jobs bill and
"fair-share" tax laws, including the Buffett Rule. (Some hedge
fund managers, like George Soros and Dinakar Singh, recently
said they would be open to higher tax rates—see The tax bite looms—again from AR’s October issue.)

Some protestors didn’t know who John
Paulson was or where he lived ("Whose place is this again?"
said a man playing a drum to a fellow marcher, who shrugged).
The motivations for some members of the crowd were unclear: One
woman was topless; another sold American flags for a
dollar.

But others were well informed. "Why do I pay more
in taxes as a working New Yorker than a hedge fund manager?"
said marcher James Mumm, director of organizing with National
People’s Action, a national network of "community
power" organizations, according to the group’s
website. "All we’re demanding is
fairness—we could open a few new schools if Paulson
paid 35%."

Mumm explained that a change to carried interest treatment,
the Buffett rule, and various other tax measures would go a
long way. Besides, he added, John Paulson and other hedge fund
managers won’t be too hurt from a small tax
increase.

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